Can you?

[L Sass]

Originally Posted by DirtDiva

Even with all this, I top out at 230 on a squat, 155 bench and 210 on dead lift.
...
Women are a lot stronger then they give themselves credit for, but I'm not all about the weight numbers either. I'm 50/50 on heavy weight training because of injury (and I live to ride my mountainbike) so I'm always training carefully up to a sustainable level and then back off and change up like right now XTrain hits a sweet spot combined with STS.

I am so glad there is a community of women that are into lifting like this website. I like my muscles, no... I love them! I think they are the secret to maintaining a healthy weight and looking good. You can always lose weight, but you are a smaller version of yourself, but if you lift, now that's a real definition change!

Great thread !

I ADORE this. Thanks DirtDiva. May I ask ... once you committed to heavier lifting, how long did it take you to hit these top out numbers. The squat truly is the king of all exercises (engaging some 260+ muscles on every rep!) and I'm making a very concerted effort this year to see what I can safely push on it, in part by focusing on strengthening the back chain muscles. I am in awe of your success. Nicely done!

[DirtDiva]

Originally Posted by L Sass

I ADORE this. Thanks DirtDiva. May I ask ... once you committed to heavier lifting, how long did it take you to hit these top out numbers. The squat truly is the king of all exercises (engaging some 260+ muscles on every rep!) and I'm making a very concerted effort this year to see what I can safely push on it, in part by focusing on strengthening the back chain muscles. I am in awe of your success. Nicely done!

Hmmm, that has me thinking... before I had children I was pushing those numbers but shy probably 50 pounds on the squat and 30 on bench. That was when I going "to the gym". Then comes children and moving and all the stuff in between, but I was still lifting, only this time I built a gym in my home. STS is what took me up to those numbers and that program came out 3 years ago? I don't think its safe to do heavy squats without a leverage machine or a Smith machine. I agree on squats being the Queen , nothing works me like a set of squats. Its proven that squatting heavy causes the body to increase production of Human Growth Hormone (HGH) while sleeping (if you lay off the sugar right after you lift). I still can't say enough about nutrient timing and sleep and that is my ace. I have a squat machine with a tilted platform for good foot position which is so helpful in form. I found that slowly adding five pound increments kept me growing, and honestly if I pushed myself probably I could go further, STS is so good here in the Squat Rack dvds.

[mini-natty]

Lorrie
I have a question for ya. I know that BCAA's are getting a lot of recognition from the bodybuilding community. What do you think of women taking this supplement? To my understanding, it is unlike creatine or testosterone, but an actual amino acid that our body produces.

Any thoughts and feedback would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you

[fit44]

Natty,

I thought I would share this info with you. I was taking them pre- and post workout WITH protein shakes and I now realize it was overkill. I'm anxious to hear Lorrie's take on this. Supplements are so confusing!

This was posted by a trainer on a fitness forum-

The "Scoop" on BCAA's.....
Branched-Chain Amino Acids... Or commonly known as BCAA's are 3 specific amino acids, leucine, isoleucine and valine, with Leucine being the heavy hitter. Leucine has a direct link to controlling mTOR which in a nut shell increases your metabolic rate.
The study of what ration works best is 2:1:1 (Leucine, Isoleucine, Valine) the reason this ratio works so well is you need to metabolize 1 molecule of Isoleucine and valine to metabolize 2 molecules of Leucine. So when you see the larger ratios of 4:1:1 or 8:1:1 stay away, this was done from a cost standpoint with no scientific evidence to back it up and you will actually deplete the other two aminos with the higher ratios.
Taking BCAAs is slightly controversial when you really dig into it... If you are not on a low carb cutting diet and you eat a well balanced meal you really do not need to supplement with BCAAs, you get plenty from meat, dairy and of course your protein shakes. If you do not have a good diet or are dieting (calorie restricted) then use it but what brand you use is also VERY important. You want a brand that uses alpha-hydroxy protected amino acids, the reason is this form will not convert to glucose (sugar) to date the only brand I have found ( and I am in no way affiliated with the following company) that uses this type is ALRs Chained out... If you are in doubt you can buy a glucose meter (rather cheap now-a-days) and take your blood sugar level, then take your BCAAs and wait 30-60 minutes and retest ..I almost guarantee it will be highly elevated. So since the body converts some protein and carbs to glucose taking extra BCAAs (especially the wrong ones) can lead to excess glucose. So if you like your BCAAs and would like to keep taking them, take them on an empty stomach with no food to be followed for at least an hour or more.

[L Sass]

Well in my other life as a lawyer, we would say there's a split of authority on this. Some experts SWEAR that taking a good branched chain amino acid supp is absoultely necessary for new muscle fiber growth. Some say that most of your high quality whey protein powders contain them already, so don't waste your money. Dave Palumbo (I like his approach - part muscle head, part science) says no need. Many others in the know say unless you are in a "cutting" phase for a competition, there is no need, and even WHEN cutting, they are useful, but not necessary.

Most of my supplements are from Beverly International, and for one of my shows I did use their BCAA supplement. Did I see any real difference? No. BUT - if I can get my lifts up, and drop body fat, so as to consider another competition, probably either in physique or body building, I *might* consider another round of them in the last month or so of contest prep.

But the bottom line here, I think, is it depends on YOU. What are your goals, your lifts, your diet? Where do you want to go with your fitness journey? And if you are seriously looking to bodybuilding, track your food, supplements, and results, and tweak as you go. You know every competition season (and we are only a few short weeks away from the Arnold, which many see as the real kick-off to competition season) you'll hear the analysts talk about what "package so-and-so brought to the stage this year." In another thread I had mentioned learning from my trainer that true change in the body comes from heavy weights, clean eats, and time. When you look at the top level competitors, you realize that over months and years, they will make those subtle (or not so subtle) changes in training, diet, and supps to change their look and aim for the prize. (The whole judging criteria is way beyond subjective, but that's a different topic altogether.) If you look at Erin Stern's pics from the 2011 Olympia to the 2012 Olympia the change is very impressive. And most of that change came from her training and reincorporating running her sprints, which is her love. That's why I said above, that the journey has to be fun - or else we won't do it.

No, sorry, I have no real opinion on BCAAs. BUT --- given that some of us here have expressed a real interest in "heavy lifting" - I'm curious. Anyone have an opinion on starting a heavy lifters check-in? I bet you could get some more experience-based thoughts if we did something like that????

[Audryb]

My first reaction to this is that I think it's pretty silly to put these numbers out there without giving at least a weight range for the woman who's supposed to be able to lift them. The male standards are for a 30-year-old 190-lb male, but the female goal doesn't even define what they're considering "average."

Being a bit of a lightweight myself who just recently started doing these "big lifts" at a gym, I may be more sensitive to this, but I just looked up the national raw powerlifting record lifts for my weight class (105 lbs) and compared them and the 123-lb weight class to the blog's goal numbers:

Bench Press
Their range: 165-210
105-lb class national record: 143.25 (not even at their low end!)
123-lb class national record: 203.75

Squat
Their range: 220-280
105-lb class national record: 231.25
123-lb class national record: 308.5

Deadlift
Their range: 275-350
105-lb class national record: 292
123-lb class national record: 330.5

Obviously the 105-lb numbers are low, since they're for small women (and the world records are much higher) but these are record-setting lifts, and they're in the very low end of the ranges given on that blog post. Hardly what should be expected by your average fit woman who spends a reasonable-but-not-excessive amount of time at the gym. The 123-lb weight class fits better, and honestly I have no idea what an "average" weight is for a fit, gym-going, weight-lifting female. Maybe these ranges are perfect for whatever that average is. But that's why they should at least define it.

I've found this chart to be more useful, as it gives ranges for different weights and levels (there are links on the page to the other lifts besides squats): Squat Standards